El Naranjo Now in South Austin

Originally published 1/24/2020, updated 2/16/2020 (scroll down)

El Naranjo began as a food trailer during the opening era of what's now the hip and trendy Rainey Street, and soon opened a brick and mortar restaurant there. And searching my past blog posts, I first visited in June 2010! This past fall, they moved into the old El Chipiron spot on South Lamar at Manchaca, where there's plenty of parking! I recently visited for dinner with some friends.

We all loved this Queso Oaxaca Fundido with chorizo. Crispy around the edges, and gooey in the middle, with flavorful chorizo that wasn't super greasy. Served with housemade blue corn tortillas and  a verde salsa.

Their complimentary bread service, including butter with orange zest, chile oil (or salsa macha), and escabeche (pickled veggies).

Cochinita Pibil, the classic Mexican pork dish, traditionally cooked in banana leaves until it falls apart, with refried black beans and pickled onions.

Pesacado al Cilantro, or redfish with cilantro and ginger butter. This was fresh and light with bursts of flavor.

I am always a sucker for mole, and this mole negro with duck breast was plated beautifully. However for my tastes, I felt the sauce was on the thin side, and while they use 30 ingredients in it, I was unable to detect the nuances that I love in a mole like sweetness from raisins or prunes.

A delicious chocolate torte for dessert!

El Naranjo has kept some of the decor of the previous restaurant like the web of ropes. 

The bar

Bowls on the way to the restrooms

From the street

All in all it was an enjoyable meal, and we had a great server, Amanda. Unfortunately they were out of the Negro Modelo beer I initially ordered, so I chose a glass of Tempranillo. I would definitely go back, but I think I would try things other than what is normally my go-to mole dish at an interior Mexican restaurant. Neither of my dinner companions wanted to try the huitlachoche (corn fungus!), but I have had it before and liked it, so I'll have to back to try El Naranjo's.

Have you been to the new South Lamar location? What have you eaten?

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UPDATE

After my initial post above, Chef Iliana de la Vega reached out to me and invited me back to El Naranjo to try their mole again. I went with a friend this past week, who was also excited to try the huitlacoche! Disclaimer: this meal was complimentary, no money exchanged hands, nor was I asked to revise my original blog post. All opinions are my own.

Amanda was our server again, and after explaining who I was and the circumstances as to why I was there, she brought me tastes of both the original mole negro that I hadn't been in love with and their mole amarillo. While you can't tell from the photo, I could immediately tell that this mole negro was thicker than what I had been served before. The previous one I believe, had just been thinned out a bit too much which also diluted out the suble flavors. This one was wonderful in taste and texture! I liked the amarillo (yellow mole) too but not as much as the negro. 😃 

Tasting the mole negro and amarillo

We also had the huitlacoche empanandas, which I loved. Again, it's a corn fungus that was first used by the Aztecs, and is considered prized with some of the indigenous cultures. I particularly loved the crisp masa dough with the earthy flavors inside, and served with a great roasted salsa. 

Huitlacoche empanadas

We then shared the queso fundido, with mushrooms, and this night's selection were trumpet, shitake, and lion's mane, which surprised me. Lion's mane supplements are great for brain and memory power, but seen less frequently in food preparations. The queso was served with fresh tortillas and a green salsa, that my friend loved as it instantly reminded her of what her father's family from the San Luis Potosi region makes. 

Queso fundido with mushrooms

She had the cochinita pibil, and I had the carne asada, which was a perfect medium rare. And served with dreamy goat cheese mashed potatoes. I drizzled a little of the chile oil (salsa macha) on the steak just to give it a little extra kick.

Cochinita pibil

Carne asada with goat cheese mashed potatoes

And for dessert, the tres leches with a drizzle of a bit of raspberry reduction on top, which was the perfect end to the meal.

Tres leches cake

Many thanks to Chef Iliana for having me back to El Naranjo. Their mole negro is quite wonderful, as was all of our food! 

First Look: ATX Cocina

I went to ATX Cocina for happy hour/dinner on Friday night, and came out of it very pleasantly surprised. I wasn't so in love with some of the food at sister restaurant Red Ash on my visit in January, but ATX Cocina more than made up for it with outstanding food and service all the way through. Chef Kevin Taylor and modern Mexican food have found a happy home in downtown Austin.

I made a last minute 5:15 pm reservation and my girlfriends and I figured we would try to have happy hour in the bar area if there was room, but otherwise we had the res to fall back on. The hostess didn't miss a beat when we arrived, immediately asking if we'd like to sit in the bar area for happy hour, which we happily did. Throughout the experience, our waiter Norris was polished, informed, available and unobtrusive. Runners seamlessly brought dishes, cleared plates, and filled water glasses.

Many will be happy to know that the restaurant is completely gluten-free. No flour tortillas here! They get an heirloom corn from Mexico, treat it and grind it themselves to create their masa and tortillas. Here is the rundown of our extended happy hour.

Kate del Castillo, Eva Longoria and Penelope Cruz

Papusas, with refried beans and cheese; the filling seemed a touch grainy, but the outer shell was nice.

Queso fundido, which definitely is on the greasy side, but the cheese gets really nice and browned while sitting tableside in its own very hot vessel. The the house made corn tortillas are wonderful; soft and pliable and not overly corn-y.

Hamachi in coconut leche de tigre (citrus + herb coconut milk) with papaya and crispy leeks. Delicate yet memorable. We should have ordered another of these!

Cochinita pibil tamal with pickled onions, radish and salsa verde. More meat than masa, which was nice, and excellent flavor in the pork.

These pork carnitas tacos may have been my favorite dish along with the hamachi. Very tender and well-rendered pork had great texture and taste, and the entire combination with the salsas was messy but delicious. Served four per order.

Esquites, or street corn, with smoked aioli (crema Mexicana), queso fresco, lime and cilantro. Nice big kernels with a good pop to them.

Bunuelos with a butter rum sauce and a extra scoop of flan ice cream. The bunuelos were good, though a bit grainy because they are using corn meal. To me the sauce had almost an herbaceous quality to it that I couldn't quite place. I had to ask our server again what it was and he said it was buttered rum with traditional cinnamon and clove, which I didn't taste. Ice cream more than made up for it though.

Choco flan with Mexican hot chocolate sauce and flan ice cream. Okay, the best thing about these two desserts was the ice cream. I don't know if they are using crema Mexicana or what, but it was WAY more than just a vanilla ice cream. So good, as was this sauce. I don't think flan isn't the right name for this very dense concoction. "Flan" implies a custard that can be cut with a spoon, and while this tasted good, nothing about it was flan-like.

Very beautiful modern interior, and while this photo doesn't reflect it, the entire restaurant was bathed in natural light when we arrived, making everything that much more attractive. The interior with its curved ceiling was designed by local architect of note, Michael Hsu.

Favorite new place I have been to in a while, and I can't wait to go back!